Display carton for cabinet unit

ABSTRACT

A carton for a cabinet unit includes a removable panel which remains in place while the carton and its contents are in transit. At the retail location, the removable panel may be removed to provide a window through which the contents of the carton may be observed so that the retail customer may inspect the color and appearance of the cabinet unit within the carton without removing the cabinet unit from the carton. The window is covered by a transparent film which is secured to the inside surface of the carton wall in the area which surrounds the removable panel. The removable panel may be returned to its original location and taped in place over the transparent film when the carton is to be moved from the retail location to another location. The carton may be constructed from a blank of double-walled corrugated paper board.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the shipment of cabinets such as kitchen cabinet units, vanities and similar furnishings, packaging constructed of corrugated paperboard is used which completely encloses the product inside. This presents few shortcomings when the product is shipped directly to the site for installation. On the other hand, when the cabinet housed in the carton is to be sold in a home furnishing outlet, such as the now popular “big box” home improvement stores, the consumer will likely wish to inspect the appearance of the product. This necessitates opening the carton and removing the item from the carton so the product can be examined by the prospective consumer. Ordinarily a sample unit will be removed from the carton for display. This requires the use of space for display of the unboxed cabinet product while also subjecting the specimen cabinet unit to wear and tear on the display floor and the incident reduction in value below full retail value of that unit. The desire for the retailer to display the actual product appearance and the desire of the potential consumer to examine the color and appearance of the cabinet product leads to the need for the present invention. Yet the protection in shipment of the cabinet product must be maintained by having a rugged outer covering surrounding the cabinet while in transit.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An improved carton for a cabinet product is provided by this invention. The carton is a corrugated cardboard enclosure which includes a front wall of corrugated cardboard which has been die cut for easy removal of a substantial portion of the front wall, a “cutout”, upon arrival of the product at the retail location. The cutout is separated from the front wall by perforations such that the cutout may be easily removed from the carton when the product is placed in the retail sales area while it will be retained as part of the front wall until its removal is desired. A transparent film covers the opening in the cardboard front wall underlying the cutout such that a window is provided in the front wall of the carton once the cutout has been removed. The transparent film is adhered to the rear face of the front wall of the carton so that the carton remains closed to dust and other contaminants even when the cutout is removed. The cutout may be retained and returned to its original placement on the carton by taping it in place once the boxed cabinet product is to be taken to the delivery vehicle after sale, thereby providing structural protection for the front wall of the cabinet within the carton.

It is a primary object of the invention to provide an improved carton for a cabinet unit which allows display of the front wall of the cabinet unit while the cabinet unit remains in an enclosed carton.

It is another object of the invention to provide a carton which allows visual inspection of the cabinet or other product inside without removal of the product from the carton.

It is another object of the invention to provide a display of a cabinet product without subjecting the product to wear and tear or the retail store environment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 is a front perspective of a carton according to the present invention with the removable panel still in place on the front wall of the carton.

FIG. 2 is a front perspective of the carton according to the invention with the removable panel removed allowing view of a cabinet unit within the carton through the window of the carton.

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of a blank from which the carton of FIG. 1 may be formed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 discloses a carton 2 for a cabinet unit according to the present invention. Carton 2 is shown in assembled form with the removable panel 4 of the front panel 6 in place. Removable panel 4 is defined by window die cut 8 and is held to surrounding part 54 of front panel 6 by tabs 10 left remaining when removable panel 4 is incompletely separated from surrounding part 54 (nicked in) during fabrication. Removable panel 4 may be sized to be a substantial part of front panel 6. Carton 2 comprises right side 12 and flaps 14 and 16 which close carton 2 to form an outer layer of its top 18. Removable panel 4 overlies a transparent film window through which the interior of carton 2 can be observed.

Referring now to FIG. 2, carton 2 is shown after removal of the removable panel 4 shown in FIG. 1. Window 20 is defined by window die cut 8 in front panel 6 and is surrounded by surrounding part 54 of front panel 6. Window 20 comprises a transparent film 22 through which the interior of carton 2 may be observed. In FIG. 2, carton 2 is shown containing a cabinet unit 3, a part of which is visible through window 20. Window die cut 8 is generally rectangular in shape, having an inverted corner 24 at its upper right which serves an aesthetic purpose. In the illustration of FIG. 2, cabinet unit 3 is a base unit having drawers 5, 7 and doors 9, 11. As is easily understood, the color and appearance of the cabinet unit 3 may be inspected while the cabinet unit 3 remains housed in carton 2.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary blank 26 which may be assembled into carton 2 of FIGS. 1 and 2. Blank 26 is cut from double-walled corrugated paper board sheet stock into a substantially rectangular shape. Blank 26 comprises left side panel 28 joined at first crease 30 with front panel 6 which is joined at second crease 32 with right side panel 12 which is joined at third crease 34 with rear panel 36 which is joined at fourth crease 38 with narrow flap 40. Blank 26 is viewed from the rear in FIG. 3 and inside surface 44 thereof is seen with transparent sheet 22 adhered to inside surface 44 of surrounding part 54 surrounding removable panel 4 which is seen through transparent film 22. Preferably transparent film 22 is a polyethylene film adhered to surrounding part 54 of front panel 6. Transparent film 22 may be adhered to inside surface 44 of front panel 6 by hot melt glue of which ethylene vinyl acetate is an example. Care is taken that transparent film 22 not become adhered to removable panel 4 so that once the carton 2 containing a cabinet unit reaches the retail destination, removable panel 4 may be removed from front panel 6 by breaking the tabs 10 which join removable panel 4 to front panel 6.

In the well known manner, blank 26 can be transformed into carton 2 by folding the blank 26 about the creases 30, 32, 34, 38 at right angles with narrow flap 40 glued to the exterior of left side panel 28 along free edge 42 thereof.

Top flaps 56, 50, 54, and 48 are respectively separated from each other by die cuts 58. Left and right bottom flaps 60, 62 and front and rear bottom flaps 66, 68 are also separated by die cuts 58. Left and right bottom flaps 60, 62 may be folded about lower horizontal crease 64 and then front bottom flap 66 and rear bottom flap 68 are folded over bottom side flaps 60, 62 to form a bottom for the carton 2. Bottom flaps 66, 68 may be secured by taping, glue adhesive, or by stapling. With a cabinet unit and protection cushioning inserted in carton 2, left and right top flaps 48, 50 may be folded about upper horizontal crease 52 and then front and rear top flaps 14, 16 are folded about upper horizontal crease 52 to overlie left and right top flaps 48, 50, thereby completing formation of top 18 of carton 2.

As is readily understood from the foregoing, carton 2 containing a cabinet unit 3 may be shipped to a retail location such as a home improvement outlet where removable panel 4 may be quickly and easily removed by severing tabs 10 so that window 20 is uncovered and the appearance of the cabinet unit 3 contained in the carton 2 may be observed through transparent film 22.

The foregoing description of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations of the embodiments are possible in light of the above disclosure or such may be acquired through practice of the invention. The embodiments illustrated were chosen in order to explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one skilled in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto, and by their equivalents. 

1. A carton for containing cabinet units during shipment comprising an enclosure having at least a front wall, a die cut in the front wall defining a substantial part of the front wall, the substantial part connected to a surrounding part of the front wall by spaced apart tabs, the substantial part of the front wall overlying a transparent sheet, whereby the substantial part of the front wall may be selectively removed from the surrounding part of the front wall.
 2. The carton of claim 1 wherein the tabs are integral with the front panel.
 3. The carton of claim 1 wherein the transparent sheet is adhered to the surrounding part.
 4. The carton of claim 1 wherein the transparent sheet is a flexible plastic sheet.
 5. The carton of claim 1 wherein the transparent sheet is adhered to the surrounding part by hot glue.
 6. The carton of claim 1 wherein the transparent sheet is polyethylene film.
 7. The carton of claim 1 wherein the transparent sheet is adhered to the surrounding part by ethylene vinyl acetate.
 8. The carton of claim 1 wherein the transparent sheet is polyethylene film, the transparent sheet is adhered to the surrounding part by ethylene vinyl acetate.
 9. A blank for a carton for cabinet units comprises a series of coplanar panels separated by creases therebetween, a one of the series of panels being a front panel, the front panel having an incomplete diecut defining the panel into a removable part and a surrounding part, tabs interconnecting the removable part to the surrounding part, a transparent film adhered to the surrounding part of the front panel on an interior side thereof.
 10. The blank of claim 9 wherein the transparent sheet overlies an inside surface of the removable part of the front panel.
 11. The blank of claim 10 wherein the blank is a paperboard sheet, the tabs are integral with the front panel.
 12. The blank of claim 10 wherein the transparent sheet is fixed to the surrounding part by adhesive. the transparent sheet is polyethylene film.
 13. The blank of claim 12 wherein the adhesive is ethylene vinyl acetate.
 14. The blank of claim 11 wherein the transparent sheet is polyethylene film, the transparent sheet fixed to the surrounding part by ethylene vinyl acetate.
 15. A method to house a cabinet unit for transport and display thereof at a retail location comprising the steps of: placing the cabinet in a carton having a window in at least one wall thereof, the at least one wall of the carton comprising a removable panel, the window comprising a transparent sheet underlying the removable panel, transporting the carton with the cabinet unit therein to the retail location with the removable panel overlying the transparent sheet, removing the removable panel from the at least one wall thereof at the retail location to allow visual inspection of at least a portion of the cabinet unit.
 16. The method of claim 15 further comprising the step of preparing the at least one wall of the carton by incompletely cutting through the at least one wall to define the removable panel.
 17. The method of claim 16 further comprising the step of removing the removable panel by severing tabs remaining between the removable panel and a surrounding part of the at least one wall which surrounds the removable panel.
 18. The method of claim 15 wherein the carton is constructed of paper board, the transparent sheet is polyethylene film, the transparent sheet is adhered to a surrounding part of the at least one wall which surrounds the removable panel on an inside face thereof,
 19. The method of claim 15 further comprising the steps of replacing the removable panel and securing it to the at least one wall of the carton before the carton is moved from the retail location. 